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Summer Book Study: Challenging Behaviors

Another summer is almost here and you know what that means; the annual Book Study Blog Party is about to begin!

We’re going to change things up a little bit this year. Please read this post closely so you’ll know exactly what to expect from this year’s book study.

Challenging Behaviors in the Classroom

Instead of reading and discussing just one book, this summer we will focus on a single topic. There is no “one size fits all” approach to handling challenging behaviors in the classroom, therefore each of the book study hosts will address a particular behavior in their posts and reference a book.

It is my hope that this method will help those of you looking for answers to some of your most burning questions regarding behaviors. If you read a post that really resonates with you and you would like to learn more about that particular strategy then you can get more information from the book referenced in the posts.

Meet Your Book Study Hosts

Our blog party will begin on Monday, June 23, 2014. Be sure to follow all the blogs below so you don’t miss out on any of the fun!

What Book Will You Be Using?

Below are just some of the books that will be referenced throughout the book study. Each host will be choosing his or her own books on which to base their posts. I will add to this list as the book study commences.

About Vanessa Levin

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Hi Michelle! If you like my page on Facebook you may or may not see the notifications of the book study. Facebook decides who sees what unfortunately 🙁 The best chances of seeing everything I post on Facebook is to click “like” every time you see something I post. This lets Facebook know you’re interested and they will continue to show you my posts. Or you could enter your name and e-mail above in the orange stripe to receive e-mail notifications. Hope that helps!

Hi Allison. I could work on a printable certificate but I’m not sure if your state would accept it or not- you might want to look into what type of documentation they require. Here in TX, childcare trainers have to have certain qualifications -which all of our book study hosts have. E-mail me if you want to chat about the details of a certificate.

I am dealing with a lot of challenging behaviors in my classroom and I am at my wits end!!!! This is my first classroom after graduating with my early childhood education degree, and it is so stressful, i get home and and crabby and my husband is not a fan of that. I will be following this closely. If you have any suggestions i would love them too. Thanks.

Iris, I’ve taught for 20 years. It DOES get easier, as you develop your own style and get familiar with the curriculum. I still have children w/ disruptive behavior, of course. My best advice is to keep them busy! Structure the day, with variations of sitting still and moving around. No structure means chaos-boredom and bickering. A few times, such as the end of the year, I gave much longer free-play time. Bad idea! Keep them busy with meaningful work, not just busy work, of course. Good luck!
Cathy

Notching Up the Nurtured Heart Approach – The New Inner Wealth Initiative for Educators
Howard Glasser and Melissa Lynn Block

I will be reading this book during the summer. In fact, all of the teachers at the preschool I direct are reading it and we will have a nurtured heart trainer come in at the end of July for a professional development day.

Hi April! I am also in Texas. Are you in a public school? CEUs for public school credit must go through a very lengthy and involved process through the state so no, I’m afraid not. However, the book study does count for childcare credit in TX.

I have had a few burning behaviour issues in my classroom this year and I need to work on tackling them effectively. I am looking forward for this book study as a part of my personal professional development.

I actually did find out the •Teaching with Love and Logic book at the library but had no luck finding the other two for a resonable price but will start with the first one. I search the catelogue of all the local libraries and could not find them.

I would love to do this book study! I am in Virginia, so I would like to find out if this is acceptable for our 16 hours. Also, how many hours are awarded for participation? Is there a cost to participate?

Hi Amanda, thanks for joining us! I do not know anything about hours in Virginia. The book study is completely voluntary and we are not currently awarding any hours for participation. If you would like to earn graduate credit you can do so by clicking on the link provided. We look forward to sharing and learning with you this summer!

Amanda, I’m in VA too. You would have to ask your Early Childhood Director or someone in the continuing ed or prof. development office of your school system. I know mine would not count this unless I had previously cleared it before it started, and even then it would be doubtful. But keep reading. I hope you learn lots of great ideas, and that I do too!

I was also wondering about a certificate for CEU’s. I teach K4 in a private Christian school in KY. One certificate requires that at least 6 hours are shown. Would it be possible to have one that shows that if I can document my time spent on it?

I have been looking for help with this topic for a while. This year was a bit stressful with one of my three year olds I could sure use some new insights into behavior. Would I be able to get CEU’s for this?

Hi Peggy! Because our followers live all around the world it would be impossible to create a certificate of participation that was accepted everywhere. Each state in the US has different requirements when it comes to offering credit for participation or CEUs. There is only one of me and I don’t know how I could apply to all 50 US states to get their approval. Then there is the matter of our international followers. The whole process could easily become a full-time job for a staff of people. I’m happy to offer a generic certificate of participation but there will be absolutely no guarantee or expectation that it will be accepted by your school or state. Here in Texas, applying for CEU approval is a very lengthy and involved process that takes almost a year to complete.

Hello everyone, I have taught Pre k for 3 years and have worked as a Resource Coordinator for P k families for 4 years prior. Challenging behaviors are always a topic of interest. I would like to have the most up-to-date knowledge on this topic. Thank you for this opportunity.

Wouldn’t that be great Leah? Because our followers live all around the world it would be impossible to create a certificate of participation that was accepted everywhere. Each state in the US has different requirements when it comes to offering credit for participation. There is only one of me and I don’t know how I could apply to all 50 US states to get their approval. Then there is the matter of our international followers. The whole process could easily become a full-time job for a staff of people. I’m happy to offer a generic certificate of participation but there will be absolutely no guarantee or expectation that it will be accepted by your school or state. Here in Texas, applying for CEU approval is a very lengthy and involved process that takes a lot of paperwork and almost a year to complete.

Hi Connie, we’re glad you’re joining us! To follow each blog click on the link to each blog in the post above, then enter your name and e-mail in the space provided on each blog. That will ensure that you receive an e-mail each time the blogger posts something new. Or you can follow each blog with a blog reader like feedly, but you have to remember to go to the reader to see the new posts. hope that helps!

So very excited to begin this book study! Books are ordered from Amazon, although one is backordered, so hopefully that’s not the first book in the discussion! Thank you for offering credit through Concordia – love it when I can get credits for my teaching license!

A huge THANK YOU to all the bloggers for putting this together! What an awesome gift of time and energy!

Hi all! I teach Kindergarten and this last year was one for the books! I look forward to hearing everyone’s tips and tricks! Do you recommend buying all the books or just ones that sound like something we’d like? I wasn’t sure if they’d be discussed one at a time or all at once by each host…also, someone asked how to follow the blogs. I have the Bloglovin’ app on my iPhone and iPad and LOVE it! Otherwise, I can’t keep up through e-mail! Just a suggestion!

Hi Emily, Since there is no one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with challenging behaviors we hope that you will find a book (or books) that will resonate with you. Each of the hosts has chosen a book or books to talk about, but only one book will be addressed in each post. For example, I will be using Love and Logic by Fay in one of my posts, then Multiple Intelligences in another. And yes, Bloglovin is a great alternative to e-mail subscriptions, thanks for sharing 🙂

Each state in the US has different requirements when it comes to offering credit for participation (CEU). Here in Texas, applying for CEU approval is a very lengthy and involved process that takes a lot of paperwork and almost a year to complete. At the conclusion of the books study I will be happy to offer a generic certificate of participation to those who contact me, but there will be absolutely no guarantee or expectation that it will be accepted by your school or state.

This year in my pre-k class I had 25 kids 10 of which were not 5 until after May and all but 6 that were youngest or only children. This was my most challenging class after 15 years of teaching. If I can learn one or two things to help that would be great.

Hi Marie, Thank you for your interest in participating in our book study. It is our hope that you will find at least one of the books listed above a suitable fit for the program and age group you work with. To participate just follow each of the blogs listed above. To follow a blog, enter your name and e-mail in the subscribe box and you will receive an e-mail each time a new post is published by the blogger. An alternate method is to subscribe via a feed reader like feedly. Hope that helps!

Thank you for your quick response. Since you sent me the link, I have been following the blog for Teach Preschool. I’m assuming the topic will change weekly- am I correct? If so, each week I just response to Deborah’s post? I hope I am understanding this all correctly.

Also, is there more than just one blog I can follow? If so, how many are there on your page? Do I get a certificate for each blog?

I’m sorry for all the questions. Just new to this and trying to understand.

Vanessa,
Thanks for all of the great ideas and resources. As a first-year pre-k teacher, I really appreciate it. Regarding the book study, I hate to ask this, but is there a more linear way to access the conversation threads? I only found one post regarding the book study (I believe it was on Kathy’s blog) and it took a bit to long to locate. I am hoping to find a more streamlined way to access the content and join in the conversation. I look forward to your thoughts. Thanks!
-Mark

Hi Mark, thanks for joining us! The best way to follow all the discussion is to subscribe to each of the host blogs listed in the post above. Then you will receive e-mail updates each time something new is posted. Karen also created a book study guide to help, she will update this particular post whenever a new post is added to the discussion: http://www.prekinders.com/summer-book-studies/

I am very interested in your book study. I have a wonderful yet very demanding group of 3 and 4 year olds. I am excited to glean any wisdom and new perspectives on how to more effectively support this bright group.

Hello Everyone! I have never done one of this before, so I am excited to try it out. I am a preschool teacher in Ohio. I would also like a certificate of completion for my preschool licensing requirements.

Good morning, I am very interested in reading the books in this book study and am trying to decide which book I should start reading first. I teach kindergarten and this was my first year. As soon as I would overcome one hurdle, I would get a new student or a new, unwanted behavior would “pop up” in the classroom. I am hoping to learn how to better handle unwanted classroom behaviors, so I can spend more time teaching, rather than redirecting. Thanks for this opportunity!

I'm Vanessa Levin, an early childhood teacher, consultant, public speaker, and author. I was born to teach! I believe learning should be fun! Here at Pre-K Pages, you can find hands-on lessons, themes, activities, and printables for preschool, pre-K, and kindergarten classrooms.

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About Pre-K Pages

I'm Vanessa, a Pre-K teacher with more than 20 years of classroom teaching experience. Here at Pre-K Pages, I'm committed to helping teachers just like you teach better, save time, and live more by providing you with everything you need to create a fun and engaging learning environment, lesson plans, and activities for your little learners. As an early childhood trainer, I have spoken to thousands of teachers in person at popular early childhood conferences such as Frog Street Splash, I Teach K! and NAEYC. I was honored to receive the 2012 CCAEYC Trainer of the Year Award. My work has been featured in Scholastic Teacher magazine and on popular websites like BuzzFeed.